


Sounds of Thunder

by Treekianthia



Series: Bravely Babies [2]
Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/M, Family, Fear of Thunder and Lightning, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 22:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14923760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treekianthia/pseuds/Treekianthia
Summary: When it begins to storm, Tiz drops everything he’s doing to make a mad dash home. With thunder starting to boom, he knows that’s where he needs to be. (Fic Archive: 10/21/17)





	Sounds of Thunder

**Author's Note:**

> The following fic was originally posted to outside sources on 10/21/17. It is being posted here for archival purposes and to help document my progress as a writer. It is also part of a post-canon AU referred to as the Bravely Babies, and more info on the children characters and the AU itself can be found on my tumblr blog woodland-knight.

At the first sound of thunder, Tiz ran. **  
**

The storm had come without warning. Clear blue skies now turned to a dark, harsh gray, and bright flashes of light crashed down into the mountains. In the distance, thunder roared as the storm approached. It was loud and growing more frequent, which meant Tiz would barely have time to get home. With each crack of thunder he heard, Tiz’s footsteps became faster and faster.

Tiz had gone out that day to pick up fabrics that Agnès had ordered, which he now held close to his chest. When he had left the weather was cool with a light breeze, but now it grew humid and the wind was starting to pick up. The fabric was starting to unravel, and if he wasn’t careful the wind would blow it away. Trying his best not to drop it, Tiz wrapped the fabric in the cape he was wearing and continued to keep it close. He could feel the first drops of rain fall on him as he did so.

There were three hills between Norende’s marketplace and his home, and by the time he reached the bottom of the first the rain had already started to pour. The blue sky was completely gone now, and a sad gray washed over everything. Another bolt of lightning struck in the mountains, and thunder promptly followed. The grass and ground were getting soaked, and mud began to form under Tiz’s feet. He had to be careful not to lose his footing.

As Tiz made his way up the second hill, he could hear another local shepherd trying to herd his sheep back inside. Looking over, he could see two of the sheep cowering in fear, which caused his chest to tighten up. He had to get home fast before anything bad happened, or else he’d be stuck in the same situation. Trudging up the slippery and muddy hill, Tiz started losing speed. At the rate he was going, it would be another twenty minutes before he could make it home.

When he made it to the top of the second hill, Tiz had to stop to catch his breath. His cape and pants were completely soaked through now, and thick mud clung to his boots. His heart was beating fast from the strain, and the humidity was making it even harder, but he couldn’t give up. He was about halfway home now, and he could just barely see his house past the other hill. As long as he kept going, he’d be there soon.

Another lightning strike, another crack of thunder. In the distance, Tiz thought he heard a scream and began to bolt down the hill. He could see a flow of water starting to form at the bottom, and a few village children were running along it towards their home. He heard them laughing as they ran, and he couldn’t understand how they could be so cheerful in this weather. They were too far away to ask by the time he reached the bottom.

Just one more hill and then he just needed to follow the path to his house. This one was the steepest of the three, but Tiz would not be deterred. He placed his foot down into some mud to try to establish his footing and then slowly began to make his way up the hill. His lungs and legs were on fire, but he pushed through it to make his way to the top. Once he was there, the rest would be smooth sailing.

As he continued walking forward, the pain followed him. His clothes were completely soaked through now, and more layers of mud were building on his boots. Despite the humidity, the wind was causing him to freeze, and he felt he could fall over at any moment. He kept pushing on, however, motivated by each clap of thunder he heard. He was almost home, where what mattered most was.

Tiz fell to his knees when he reached the top of the hill. Despite his years of adventuring, it had been some time since he had pushed himself this hard. Taking a few deep breaths, Tiz forced himself back up and kept moving forward. In his efforts to move forward, however, he slipped and fell into a patch of mud. The fabric he had been carrying fell out of his cape, and the mud and rain quickly turned it into a dirty mess.

Exhausted, Tiz slowly pulled himself out of the mud and picked up the now ruined fabric. He could feel a few scrapes and bruises forming, but they weren’t of any worry to him. Covered in mud, sweat, and little bit of blood, Tiz walked towards his home and let the rain wash away what it could. As he approached the porch, Tiz could see a light from a fire flickering out through the window. The signs of a crying child accompanied it.

“Agnès, Theo, I’m home!” Tiz called out as he opened the front door. Closing the door behind him, he walked into the entryway and looked into the front room. He could see Agnès and their three-year-old son wrapped in a woolen blanket by the fireplace.

“Tiz, what happened to you!?” Agnès asked after seeing the state her husband was in. “You look like you fell into the river!”

Tiz shook his head as he placed some of his muddier articles of clothing on a rack. “No, but it’s close enough. I slipped and fell into a puddle of mud on my way back,” he explained before walking over. Theo was still crying harshly while hugging his mother, and Agnès kept her arms wrapped tight around him.

“He’s been crying since the storm began,” she told Tiz. “I’ve tried everything but the thunder keeps startling him.”

Tiz sat down next to Agnès and placed his hand on Theo’s back. “Hey there, Theo. Everything is going to be okay. Both mommy and daddy are here to protect you now,” Tiz said in attempts to comfort his son. Still in tears, Theo looked at his father, and though he was still frightened, he seemed to be showing signs of calming down.

“D-daddy, I’m scared!” Theo whined as tears fell down his face. “I-it’s so loud and scary! Make it go away!”

Tiz gently patted Theo’s back. “We’re going to make it go away, Theo,” he told Theo with a calm tone. “We’re not going to let the thunder hurt you. Mommy and daddy are going to make sure of it.”

A moment later, the room went white as another lightning strike hit nearby, and with no time in between, thunder boomed overhead. Agnès jerked forward and shut her eyes closed, and Theo let out a frightened scream before beginning to sob again. Without missing a beat, Tiz brought the two close to him and put his arms around them. Both Theo and Agnès clung to Tiz’s still muddy shirt, and while Theo was still in tears, Agnès began to cry silently alongside her son. To keep them calm, Tiz began to hum.

Agnès had been afraid of thunder as long as she could remember, and Theo had developed the fear early on. When Theo first showed signs of fearing thunder, Agnès swallowed her own fear to calm him, and the two parents dealt with their son’s fear together. There were times, however, where Agnès’ fear would get the better of her. She would be left in a panicked silence, and Tiz would be left to comfort both of them. Thankfully, this wasn’t a problem, as Tiz knew exactly what to do.

“ _Rain, rain go away, come again another day_ ,” Tiz quietly sang to his wife and his child. Theo looked up at his father and through the tears tried to sing in response.

“ _I-if you stay, sheep don’t play, s-so stay away until I say,_ ” Theo stuttered out the rest of the lyrics. Tiz smiled at his son and turned his attention to his wife.

“ _Rain, rain, go away, come again another day,_ ” he repeated to Agnès. Eyes still shut, she took a shaky breath and stayed close to Tiz.

“ _In deserts, shines the sun, so the rain takes away the fun,_ ” she meekly sang in response. Tiz found it endearing to hear his wife sing the Harenian version of the song, especially since he and their son sang the Norendian version. Either way, it seemed they were both calming down.

“It’s going to be okay,” Tiz told to the two before hugging them. “I’m here now, so I promise it’s going to be okay.”

Agnès opened her eyes. “D-did you run here all the way from the market?” she asked before sniffling. Tiz rubbed her back and kept her close.

“I did. As soon as I heard the thunder, I knew you two would need me, so I ran back here as fast as I could,” he explained to Agnès. “I tripped on my way down the last hill. That’s where all this mud came from.”

“What about my fabric? Were you able to pick it up?” Agnès continued to ask. Tiz felt his face turned white as he remembered the white fabric that was now stained with mud, grass, and rain.

“Ah… Let’s just say we should order you more,” Tiz told her without fully answering the question. Agnès shook her head and tried her best to smile.

“It’s okay, Tiz. I’m sure if you explain what happened they’ll replace it. It may be a special order from Fabric á la Mode, but the ladies I work with are nice. I’d expect them all to pitch in to replace it,” Agnès tried to assure Tiz. A moment after, there was another clap of thunder, and Agnès winced.

“D-daddy, when is the thunder g-gonna stop?” Theo asked as he clung to his dad’s shirt. The nursery rhyme had gotten him to stop crying, but he was still very much afraid. Tiz patted the top of his head.

“It’ll stop soon, I promise. Now that both you and mommy have both asked the rain to stop, it should be leaving soon,” Tiz told his son. Admittedly, Tiz had no idea when it would stop, but he knew Theo would find comfort in this answer more.

“Until then, why don’t we take a warm bath and drink some hot chocolate?” Agnès suggested. “Daddy got mud all over us and our clothes, and he needs it desperately.”

Theo looked at his father. “Daddy did a bad thing!” he exclaimed before puffing out his pink cheeks. “Daddy needs to go sit in the corner!”

Tiz let out a laugh. “Daddy will sit in the corner after a bath and hot chocolate, okay? We don’t need mud getting everywhere,” he mentioned before getting up. “Now let’s go get cleaned up.”

“Hold on,” Agnès interrupted before getting up herself. “Theo, you run to the bathroom and wait for mommy and daddy. We’ll just be a moment.”

Theo blinked. “Okay…” he said without any further questions before standing up and heading to the bathroom. Curious, Tiz looked at his wife.

“What do you need, pumpkin? ...and is it really a good idea to send him off on his own?” Tiz asked. Taking a hold of her husband’s arm, Agnès stood close.

“It’ll only be a minute. I just want to thank you for coming home when you did,” she told him. “If you hadn’t, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Tiz scratched the back of his head. “I almost went into a panic as soon as I heard the storm starting. I knew the sheep were already safe inside, but I had no idea about you and Theo. I’m just glad I made it back in time,” he admitted. Agnès smiled and went to kiss her husband on the cheek before realizing there was still mud on it and stopping.

“...you know I miss the old song you used to sing me. The one about the woman looking for her husband in the stars,” she said to him. “You used to sing it to me all the time when I was scared.”

“Well you know, Theo is young and wouldn’t understand it. That’s why I go with nursery rhymes now,” Tiz pointed out. Still smiling, Agnès shook her head.

“Oh I understand, Tiz! I just wanted to tell you I missed it,” she explained. “It meant so much to me, you know.”

Tiz started smiling as well. “Then how about I sing it for you before we go to bed?” he suggested. “I wouldn’t mind singing it for you again.”

“I would love that… Truly,” Agnès said as she rested her head on Tiz’s shoulder. Gently, Tiz brushed his hand against her cheek.

“It’s a promise, then,” he told her before kissing her on the temple. He had managed to get a small bit of mud on her, but he didn’t think it mattered since they were about to clean up anyway.

“With that done, let’s go before Theo gets too impatient,” Agnès suggested while tugging Tiz’s arm. “Though we’re only having to do this because of you.”

“I know, I know, but I did it for your  and Theo’s sake,” Tiz reminded her. He could feel some of the mud starting to dry, and it was getting uncomfortable. He wanted to wash it off as soon as possible.

“And that’s what makes you the best father and husband there is,” she said while continuing to tug. “Now come along dear, you smell like the sheep you work with!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Tiz said before laughing one last time. Together, the two walked off to the bathroom, where Theo was patiently waiting.

As they walked, Tiz listened to the rain outside their home. It was still pouring, but the lightning seemed to be on the move. There hadn’t been a flash since the one before the nursery rhyme, and the thunder was growing quieter. Though he wished he arrived earlier, Tiz took comfort in knowing he had still done something for his wife and son. Perhaps that night, he’d also do something more for his wife with the old song.

For now though, he would spend time with his family until the thunder was completely gone. In the distance, he could hear a soft booming as the storm slowly moved away. Based on a small yelp from the bathroom, it was still enough to scare Theo, but Tiz knew it would be okay. He and Agnès would be able to keep him calm, and the storm would be gone soon. As they reached the bathroom, Tiz heard Agnès begin to sing to their son.

_“Rain, rain, go away…”_

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the spiritual successor of another fic that I never finished. I had always wanted to do something centering around anxiety and a fear of thunder with Tiz and Agnès, but it had never worked out for me. After many attempts of trying to get something to work, a family fic apparently turned out to be the way to go. With this idea finally crossed off the last, it's allowed me to come up with more ideas instead of always coming back to try and write about the same one.


End file.
